Hosted by the National Black Pro-life Coalition (NPBLC) and Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), the afternoon included a dream team panel addressing issues including the safety of abortion, the economic impact of abortion, a history of the disparate abortion data impacting the African-American community and much more.

Recall that abortion disproportionately impacts the African American community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that black Americans had a staggering 42% of all abortions in America in 2008 (the most recent year for which abortion data is available) yet according to the Census Bureau, African Americans composed only 12.6 percent of the total population. The presenters all discussed different nuances of this horrific problem within the Black community, and I am told that the NPBLC will soon release the presentations electronically (keep your eye on their website!).

In the meantime, here are a few notes from the eye-opening afternoon:

** Catherine Davis delved in state specific abortion data, including Mississippi, where black babies make up an astounding 78% of the abortions.

** Pastor Stephen Broden discussed three studies indicating the sad fact that abortion clinics are located primarily in black areas.

** Dean Nelson addressed the ugly truth that black women are two and a half time more likely than white women to die from abortion.

** Freda Bush, OB-GYN, further delved into the topic of abortion and women’s health, and how when a neutral party reviews the data, abortion clearly is not a positive thing for women’s health.

** Rev. Walter Hoye provided excellent remarks on the topic of the impact of abortion on the economy.

But this is only a small sampling of the comments and speakers. I highly encourage you to review these powerful presentations on an astounding human right issue that has received a profoundly inadequate amount of attention!